South District team for Blairgowrie

The South District squad of six for the Scottish men's area team championship over the Lansdowne course at Blairgowrie Golf Club from May 15 to 17 is: 

 

                     Scott  Gibson              (Southerness)     

                     Greig Marchbank       (Thornhill)

                     Martin  McNae           (Lochmaben)

                     Michael  Grunwell      (powfoot)

                     Ian  Thomson                (Powfoot)

                     Kyle  McClung              (Wigtownshire County)  

 

                      Team manager  Graeme Sharp

Round Robin match-play is nothing new

 on US PGA Tour

FROM GOLF DIGEST
By Cliff Schrock

Much has been made of the round-robin approach put into play this week at the WGC-Cadillac Match Play at TPC Harding Park. It's certainly a fan-friendly format with the guarantee that the entire field of 64 will be around for three days rather than the one-and-done elimination that sent half the group home after a single day of the traditional match-play format. 
However, it's not new to pro golf in the United States.
Round robins, both stroke-play and match-play varieties, were a familiar format during the first few decades of the US PGA Tour, albeit usually with a smaller field than 64.
It wasn't until around 1960 that they were eventually phased out by the predominant four-round, stroke-play tournament. Yet the tour's all-time winningest player, Sam Snead, has round-robin wins among his 82 career titles, including five at the Palm Beach Round Robin (also Goodall Round Robin), named after the clothing company.
Snead won the Palm Beach RR four times in the 1950s, including the one pictured here, the 1954 event held May 12-16 at Meadow Brook Club in Westbury, New York.
 The invitation event had 16 elite golfers -- presumably the tour's best 16 at the time -- play five rounds in groups of four. One round was played on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday and two rounds on Friday. A player  accumulated or lost points depending on how he fared in stroke differential against the other players in your group. 
Snead shot 67-72-68-66-65 and had a plus 62 to easily win over runner-up Bob Toski, who had plus 26.

The  field at one round-boin tournament on the US PGA Tour: Front row from left, Peter Thomson, Jim Turnesa, Gene Littler, Cary Middlecoff, Sam Snead, Ted Kroll, Earl Stewart, Bob Toski and Jimmy Demaret; back row from left, Tommy Bolt, Walter Burkemo, Doug Ford, Lloyd Mangrum, Jackie Burke, Harold (Jug) McSpaden, Byron Nelson, Marty Furgol and Ed (Porky) Oliver.

The Palm Beach RR was taken off the tour schedule after the 1957 event, which Snead also won. The reason: Since the majority of tour pros were left out of the tour event the week of the round-robin, with no alternative place to play, there were complaints that the even idled the rank and file and only benefited only the elite.

World Matchplay Day 2 Summary

Warren loses at 20th, Gallacher KOd with

second defeat in a row

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

Rory McIlroy knows he will have to be at his best on Friday to see off former Walker Cup foe Billy Horschel after moving to within one win of the last 16 at the WGC – Cadillac Match Play with a two up win over Brandt Snedeker.
Both Scots in the field of 64 lost. It was a second defeat in a row for Stephen Gallacher as he lost 3 and 2 to Matt Kuchar so that ended the Bathgate man's hopes of progressing. Marc Warren, who had won his first tie, lost at the 20th to Brooks Koepka.

Having seen off Jason Dufner on day one, McIlroy led against Brandt Snedeker from the moment he holed a 35 foot birdie putt form off the green at the first.

Snedeker birdied the 11th and 12th to briefly restore parity, but McIlroy converted from 15 feet on the 15th and five feet at the last to set-up a showdown with Horschel, whose 3 and 2 win over Dufner was also his second victory in as many days.

The other mouth-watering tie of day three at TPC Harding Park will see Lee Westwood take on Masters Champion Jordan Spieth for a place in the last 16, with both players having won their first two group matches.

Only Rickie Fowler and John Senden have secured their places in the last 16 with a match to spare

Many of Friday’s other final group matches throw up the possibilities of sudden-death play-off to decide who moves into the final stages of the tournament.

There will also be a number of straight head-to-head matches – McIlroy v Horschel, Spieth v Westwood, Bubba Watson v Louis Oosthuizen and Gary Woodland v Webb Simpson – to determine group winners.

There are two groups where all four players have a chance to progress depending on results, including the all European group of Sergio Garcia, Jamie Donaldson, Bernd Weisberger and Tommy Fleetwood. 

The other group contains Jim Furyk, Martin Kaymer, Thongchai Jaidee and George Coetzee.

Player Quotes

Rory McIlroy: “I played Billy twice in the Walker Cup. He won the first one, I won the second.  We’re good mates now, but back then we were a little bit younger and a little more emotional, so it was pretty heated. 

" I don't think tomorrow will be quite so much like that, but still you need to win or you go home.  So it's an important game.”

Lee Westwood: “Jordan is playing really well at the moment but match play is a funny thing, especially over 18 holes - it can be anybody's.  I played really well  today and was five or six under par, so it was a good quality match and I just ground away. 

"I'm really looking forward to this match tomorrow - it will be one of the matches of the day and I think that's what everybody wants.  I'm looking forward to it.  Jordan is playing really well so hopefully we can make a few birdies.”
EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

TO VIEW ALL THURSDAY'S RESULTS
CLICK HERE

Monty fourth on European Tour's career money list

	Position	Name	Country	Prize Money
	1	Lee WESTWOOD	ENG	€30,703,988
	2	Ernie ELS	RSA	€30,612,165
	3	Rory MCILROY	NIR	€24,896,578
	4	Colin MONTGOMERIE	SCO	€24,477,508
	5	Padraig HARRINGTON	IRL	€24,074,064
	6	Miguel Angel JIMÉNEZ	ESP	€22,807,332
	7	Ian POULTER	ENG	€22,768,274
	8	Retief GOOSEN	RSA	€21,907,047
	9	Sergio GARCIA	ESP	€21,394,597
	10	Darren CLARKE	NIR	€20,325,138
	11	Henrik STENSON	SWE	€20,167,995
	12	Thomas BJØRN	DEN	€19,970,056
	13	Graeme MCDOWELL	NIR	€18,183,011
	14	Martin KAYMER	GER	€17,633,312
	15	Justin ROSE	ENG	€17,516,397
	16	Luke DONALD	ENG	€16,956,166
	17	Paul CASEY	ENG	€16,268,148
	18	Robert KARLSSON	SWE	€15,709,990
	19	Angel CABRERA	ARG	€14,856,519
	20	Vijay SINGH	FIJ	€14,164,996
	21	Charl SCHWARTZEL	RSA	€13,713,795
	22	David HOWELL	ENG	€13,426,405
	23	Bernhard LANGER	GER	€12,734,190
	24	José María OLAZÁBAL	ESP	€12,380,060
	25	Francesco MOLINARI	ITA	€12,364,339
	26	Paul LAWRIE	SCO	€12,188,001
	27	Louis OOSTHUIZEN	RSA	€12,124,346
	28	Peter HANSON	SWE	€12,083,967
	29	Anders HANSEN	DEN	€12,080,167
	30	Michael CAMPBELL	NZL	€11,892,642
	31	Paul MCGINLEY	IRL	€11,308,890
	32	Ross FISHER	ENG	€10,977,784
	33	Simon DYSON	ENG	€10,503,036
	34	Søren KJELDSEN	DEN	€10,485,497
	35	Niclas FASTH	SWE	€10,275,793
	36	Raphaël JACQUELIN	FRA	€10,029,128
	37	Jamie DONALDSON	WAL	€9,919,377
	38	Ian WOOSNAM	WAL	€9,617,101
	39	Stephen GALLACHER	SCO	€9,607,290
	40	Richard GREEN	AUS	€9,439,755
	41	Thongchai JAIDEE	THA	€9,356,423
	42	Soren HANSEN	DEN	€9,048,659
	43	Gonzalo FDEZ-CASTAÑO	ESP	€8,880,195
	44	David LYNN	ENG	€8,445,648
	45	Sir Nick FALDO	ENG	€8,004,560
	46	Thomas LEVET	FRA	€7,911,015
	47	Bradley DREDGE	WAL	€7,904,024
	48	Anthony WALL	ENG	€7,557,114
	49	Marcel SIEM	GER	€7,484,817
	50	Steve WEBSTER	ENG	€7,405,875
	51	Alvaro QUIROS	ESP	€7,328,237
	52	Phillip PRICE	WAL	€7,306,744
	53	Richard STERNE	RSA	€7,005,746
	54	Barry LANE	ENG	€6,975,306
	55	Peter O'MALLEY	AUS	€6,802,658
	56	Grégory HAVRET	FRA	€6,788,970
	57	Ignacio GARRIDO	ESP	€6,661,032
	58	Oliver WILSON	ENG	€6,580,669
	59	Joost LUITEN	NED	€6,450,673
	60	Ricardo GONZALEZ	ARG	€6,359,708
	61	Brett RUMFORD	AUS	€6,164,794
	62	Alex NOREN	SWE	€6,122,254
	63	Mikko ILONEN	FIN	€6,117,953
	64	Nick DOUGHERTY	ENG	€6,039,710
	65	Simon KHAN	ENG	€5,982,019
	66	Jeev Milkha SINGH	IND	€5,913,653
	67	Grégory BOURDY	FRA	€5,876,393
	68	Gary ORR	SCO	€5,861,541
	69	Pablo LARRAZÁBAL	ESP	€5,853,203
	70	Danny WILLETT	ENG	€5,815,288
	71	Andrew COLTART	SCO	€5,733,959
	72	Branden GRACE	RSA	€5,703,513
	73	Robert-Jan DERKSEN	NED	€5,685,595
	74	Victor DUBUISSON	FRA	€5,654,520
	75	Marc WARREN	SCO	€5,596,243
	76	Graeme STORM	ENG	€5,590,171
	77	Sam TORRANCE	SCO	€5,491,084
	78	Nicolas COLSAERTS	BEL	€5,425,014
	79	Matteo MANASSERO	ITA	€5,394,873
	80	Shane LOWRY	IRL	€5,311,697
	81	John BICKERTON	ENG	€5,307,064
	82	Peter LAWRIE	IRL	€5,216,573
	83	Peter HEDBLOM	SWE	€5,210,225
	84	Alastair FORSYTH	SCO	€5,202,307
	85	Johan EDFORS	SWE	€5,172,820
	86	Rafa CABRERA-BELLO	ESP	€5,119,858
	87	Marcus FRASER	AUS	€5,070,773
	88	Fredrik ANDERSSON HED	SWE	€4,839,063
	89	Maarten LAFEBER	NED	€4,829,268
	90	Robert ROCK	ENG	€4,828,185
	91	Damien MCGRANE	IRL	€4,817,835
	92	Thomas AIKEN	RSA	€4,758,894
	93	Alex CEJKA	GER	€4,702,691
	94	Jarmo SANDELIN	SWE	€4,693,972
	95	José Manuel LARA	ESP	€4,660,379
	96	Richie RAMSAY	SCO	€4,652,808
	97	Freddie JACOBSON	SWE	€4,652,137
	98	Mark JAMES	ENG	€4,597,602
	99	James KINGSTON	RSA	€4,523,306
	100	Edoardo MOLINARI	ITA	€4,522,710

Wallace Booth feels he's turned the corner
 
FROM TODAY'S SCOTTISH DAILY EXPRESS
By JOCK MacVICAR
On one of Scotland's greatest days on a golf course, Wallace Booth, Callum Macaulay and Gavin Dear slaughtered the Americans.
Rickie Fowler, Billy Horschel and Jamie Lovemark were nine shots adrift as the Scots won the world amateur team championship for the Eisenhower Trophy in 2008 at Royal Adelaide Golf Club in Australia.

However, Dear has recently been reinstated as an amateur after enjoying little success as a pro, Macaulay is driving taxis while Booth is at last free of the serious shoulder injury that kept him out of the game for two years.
Contrast that with the Americans - Fowler is 13th in the world rankings; last year Horschel won the FedEx Cup and Lovemark flits between the US PGA and Web-com Tours.
But, for the first time since he turned professionals five years ago, Booth (pictured right), now 29, has a Tour category that allows him to plan his season. 
And yesterday the Comrie, Perthshire man received a further boost by being selected in an eight-strong SSE Scottish Hydro player line-up for 2015.
"What has happened to Gavin and Callum motivates me because I don't want people talking about me as well," said Booth.
"It's nice that this is the first year I can plan my schedule. That's a lot better than waiting at the weekend, wondering if you are in the following week's event.
"I feel I'm finally starting to progress from where I was as an amateur but it's been five years now since I turned pro."
With fine amateurs such as Lloyd Saltman, James Byrne and Michael Stewart all failing to move up from the bottom rung in the professional ladder, Booth wonders if there is a flaw in the Scottish psyche.
"I went to university in the States and they are so positive it's unbelievable.
"They have a feel-good factor and a self-belief which is amazine. Maybe that has sometime to do with it.
"I played with Fowler over  the last two rounds of the Eisenhower Trophy in 2008. You see these guys you beat as an amateur doing well as pros  and think: If he can do it (as a pro), I can do it."

North District team for Blairgowrie

 

North District squad of six for the Scottish men's area team golf championship over Blairgowrie Golf Club's Lansdowne course from May 15 to 17 is:

Bryan Fotheringham (Inverness)

Douglas Thorburn (Tain)

Kyle Godsman (Moray)

Jeff Wright (Forres)

Allan Cameron (Fortrose and Rosemarkie)

John Forbes (Inverness)

Team manager - Robert McKerron

Warren wins but Gallacher loses 7 and 6 on Day 1 of  WGC - Cadillac Match Play

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS with a few additional words by Colin Farquharson  World Number One Rory McIlroy led the European Tour charge at the WGC – Cadillac Match Play with a 5 and 4 victory over Jason Dufner on day one at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco. It was a mixed day for Scots Marc Warren and Stephen Gallacher. Warren won but Gallacher went down to one of the heaviest defeats of the round - he lost by 7 and 6 to Hunter Mahan McIlroy didn’t need to bring his best golf to the first of his three round one matches in the newly formatted event, with a single birdie and 13 pars good enough to secure a stress-free victory over Dufner. Englishman Lee Westwood was another high profile European victor with a one up win over Matt Every, while Francesco Molinari pulled off a brilliant 5 and 4 win over World Number Nine Adam Scott. Sergio Garcia and Jamie Donaldson emerged one-holr winners in their respective European battles with Tommy Fleetwood and Bernd Weisberger, while Louis Oosthuizen was in great form to take down Keegan Bradley 6 and 5. There was disappointment for English Ryder Cup stars Ian Poulter and Justin Rose who both lost 3 and 2 to Webb Simpson and Marc Leishman, but Danny Willet and Marc Warren produced strong debut performances by defeating Ryan Moore and JB Holmes. India’s Anirban Lahiri, who six months ago was playing at The European Tour Qualifying School, continued his meteoric rise with a 4 and 2 win over American Ryan Palmer. Player Quotes Rory McIlroy: “It's good to win that first match. Luckily I've done that and the mindset going into tomorrow is I have to win, you have to win every match.  There’s no point in thinking you can't win matches and progress here.  "I need to hole a few more putts. Jason didn't have his best stuff, obviously, so I just tried to put him under pressure from the start, tried to hit fairways, hit greens, and try and make him force a little bit. In match play, you just need to beat the person that's in front of you and I did that today.” Lee Westwood:” I played quite nicely but it was a real struggle out there. I scrambled well.  We both did.  It was the biggest credit to golf ever our match to be honest.   "We didn't see a lot of each other on the front nine as we were criss-crossing the fairways, but I did birdie three out of the last four holes to win and that’s the reason I managed to sneak it in the end. It's probably a game that Matt thinks he should have won and I feel very fortunate to win.” Anirban Lahiri: “I think I do pretty well in match play.  I was just talking to my caddie about it and there's no letting up.  You have to kind of be in the zone right through.  And you can't have a plateau in your focus, you've got to be really intense.  And I think I like playing golf that way so hopefully I can keep that up.” TO VIEW ALL THE FIRST-ROUND RESULTS CLICK HERE

Ayrshire name strong team for Blairgowrie
 
Ayrshire, who last won the title in 2008, have named a strong squad of experienced players, led by current Scotland cap Jack McDonald, who has a handicap of +4.3, for the Scottish men's area team championship over Blairgowrie Golf Club's Lansdowne course from May 15 to 17.
It is:


JACK McDONALD (Kilmarnock Barassie) (+4.3) JOHN SHANKS (Irvine) (+3.1) STUART ROBIN (Prestwick St Cuthbert) (+2.2) KEITH HAMILTON (Ayr Belleisle) (+2.5) SCOTT BROWN (Turnberry) (+1.6) TOMMY McINALLY (Loudoun) (+0.9)
Team Manager - John Rushbury